Swimming aids

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to inflatable swimming aids which when uninflated are worn under and hidden by swimming trunks. The aid comprises an upper buoyancy chamber which in use extends above the trunks and can lie against the body of the wearer and which when deflated is tucked into the trunks and lies there inconspicuously.

United States Patent Thoma [54] SWIMMING AIDS [72] inventor: HermannThoma, Four Winds, Middle Road, Momingside, Sandton, Transvaal, SouthAfrica [22] Filed: July 8, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 53,131

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 18, 1969 South Africa..69/4825 July 28, I969 South Africa ..69/5382 [52] U.S. Cl. ..9/335 [51] Int. Cl ..B63c 9/16 [58] Field of Search ..9/335, 334, 329, 311, 336

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,500,661 3/1950 Chillemi..9/335 51 Aug. 8, 1972 3,098,248 7/1963 Geier ..9/3 35 3.134395 6/ l964 Kirchner ..9/335 X l,730,8 l 2 lO/l929 Ford ..9/334 PrimaryExaminer-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Sauberer Anomey-Young& Thompson ABSTRACT The invention relates to inflatable swimming aidswhich when uninflated are worn under and hidden by swimming trunks. Theaid comprises an upper buoyancy chamber which in use extends above thetrunks and can lie against the body of the wearer and which whendeflated is tucked into the trunks and lies there inconspicuously.

9 Clains, 8 Drawing figures T l l onumhlmnuh I PATENTEDMI: awn $681,800SHEET 10F 3 07' rys.

PATENTEB 8 sum 3 BF 3 SWlMMlNG AIDS This invention relates to swimmingaids and is concerned with swimming aids which are inflatable and areintended to be worn under a swimming costume or to form part of theswimming costume.

Such swimming aids are known. MOst known swimming aids which areintended to be worn with swimming trunks are wholly contained within thetrunks. This means that when they are inflated they do not support theuser in the correct position and they are, therefore, unsatisfactorywhen used by a nonswimmer. Swimming aids are known which do extend tothe correct position on the users body, but these can only be used withone piece costumes of the kind used by women. They are in most casesrather unsightly, and are very obvious, even in the uninflatedcondition.

A swimming aid has been proposed which can be worn around the abdomenand which when not in use can be folded over mid-way along its thicknessand tucked under swimming trunks. Such a swimming aid is cumbersome tofold and is difficult to use although it is a considerable improvementon prior suggestions. It has also been proposed to provide a pair ofswimming trunks with two sets of buoyancy chambers, a lower one withinthe trunks and an upper one swingable from a position within the trunksto lie on the abdomen when inflated. The upper and lower buoyancychambers are of the same width, with the result that it is difficult totuck the upper chamber into the trunks after use. It is also visiblefrom the side when in use, which may cause embarrassment to the user.The upper buoyancy chamber is not urged against the body and tends toflop down in front of the trunks.

It is an object of the invention to provide a generally improvedswimming aid of the kind mentioned above.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided such aninflatable swimming aid comprising a main buoyancy chamber which in usespans the lower part of the abdomen of a wearer and is in use covered byswimming trunks and an additional or upper buoyancy chamber adapted tobe folded down between the main portion and the wearers anatomy whendeflated and to be pulled from the swimming trunks and laid against theabdomen when the aid is inflated, characterized in that the mainbuoyancy chamber preferably has a straight upper edge and in that theadditional or upper buoyancy chamber is less long than the main buoyancychamber and extends upwardly from its upper edge.

The swimming aid may be formed in the swimming trunks but preferably itis received in a pouch to protect the wearer's skin from the material ofthe two buoyancy chambers.

An elongated weld may be provided along a line forming a continuation ofthe upper edge of the main chamber to facilitate the folding down of theadditional or upper chamber. Alternatively the two buoyancy chambers maybe separate but held together in a pouch or the like.

Both the main and the additional buoyancy chambers are preferablysubdivided into pockets, e.g., by slots or welds to inhibit the movementof air during swimming.

Five embodiments of the invention will now be described by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a swimming aid of the invention shown flat withthe pouch partially removed for clarity,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the swimming aid when folded.

FIG. 3 shows the deflated aid in position under a pair of swimmingtrunks,

FIG. 4 shows the aid in the inflated position, and

FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are plan views of other aids of the invention.

FIGURES1,2,3,AND4

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 4, there is shown an inflatable swimming aid11 contained in a pouch 12. The aid 11 is made of two sheets of platicsmaterial and its edges are welded together as shown at 14. The aid 11comprises a pentagonal main buoyancy chamber l5 which in use spans theabdomen of a user 17 and which has a straight upper edge 18. Extendingupwardly from the center of the edge 18 is an upper buoyancy chamber 19.This buoyancy chamber 19,.when the aid is deflated is normally foldeddown in the swimming trunks 21 between the main buoyancy chamber 15 anduser 17. A weld (not shown) may optionally be provided to extend overmuch of the continuation of the edge 18. Both the buoyancy chambers 15and 19 are divided into transverse by a number of transverse cuts orslots 23 to allow the aid to be more easily moulded to the shape of thebody of the user 17.

A plastic conduit 25 extends from the upper edge 18 close to thebuoyancy chamber 19 and has at its free end, a simple closure plug 26secured by a string, plastic connector or the like.

The inflatable aid 1 l is contained within a woven pouch 12 which is ofsubstantially the same shape and which protects the skin of the wearer.The pouch 12 has an opening 27 through which the aid may be inserted andhas seams 28 sewn into it to fit into the cuts 23. A pair of tabs 29extend from the ends of the pouch 12 and are provided with suitablesecuring means (not shown) so that the pouch 12 can be held around thewaist of the user 17. Alternatively the tabs 29 can be connecteddirectly to the aid 11.

In use, while the user 17 is not swimming, he tucks the upper buoyancychamber 19 behind the chamber 15 and the aid lies flat under hisswimming trunks 21.

When the user wishes to swim, he folds the chamber 19 out of his trunks21 to lie adjacent the upper part of his abdomen and up to hisbreastbone. He inflates the aid through the conduit 25 and then plugsthe conduit closed (this arrangement of the aid being shown in H6. 4).The upper chamber 19 gives buoyancy to the user at places where this isnecessary for the non-swimmer. The cuts 23 and the weld inhibit themovement of air in the aid so that the center of buoyancy does notchange much during swimming.

After swimming the user 17 pulls the plug 26 out of the end of theconduit 25 and deflates the aid 11. The upper buoyancy chamber 19 cannow be folded down into the position shown in FIG. 3 where it lies flatand is substantially unnoticeable under the swimming trunks 21. Becauseof the shape of the two chambers 15 and 19 the portion 19 can easily befolded down to lie neatly behind the main portion 15.

It will be appreciated that when the user is swimming he will lie on theupper buoyancy chamber 19 covering it from view. This chamber 19 willalso not be visible from the side.

FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6 The currently preferred embodiment of the aid is shownin this figure. Here again there are two separate buoyancy chambers 36and 37.

In this embodiment, however, the upper edge 38 of the main buoyancychamber 36 has two recessed portions 39 and the upper buoyancy chamber37 has downwardly extending projections 40 which form in effectcontinuations of the outermost pockets 41 and the upper chamber 37.

When this aid is inflated, the projections 40 form continuations belowthe lower edge of the upper buoyancy chamber 37 and into the areacovered by the main buoyancy chamber 36 so that the upper chamber 37will be held rigidly upright against the body of the user and thepossibility of it folding over its lower edge is minimized if noteliminated. It will be seen that when the upper buoyancy chamber 37 isdeflated it will have to be folded over only a small portion of itselfso that this will not inhibit folding over when the upper buoyancychamber is to be tucked away.

The aspirating tube 43 for the upper buoyancy chamber 37 is connected tothe lower portion of one of the projections 40, while the aspiratingtube 44 for the main buoyancy chamber 36 is connected close to theconnection of the tube 43. Because the connections are close together, adouble tube can be used. The tube part 43 will not be twisted when theupper buoyancy chamber is folded up or down. Further, the belt ifprovided, of swimming trunks will lie over the projections 40 to provideadditional means to hold the upper buoyancy tube upright.

The projection 40 to which the tube 43 is connected can be recessed at45 to facilitate the connection of the two parts.

FIGURES 7 AND 8 The embodiments of these figures are similar to thatGENERAL The invention is not limited to the precise constructionaldetails hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings. Thus forexample the pouch may form part of a swimming costume.

Also the swimming aid may be used by women wearing one piece swimmingcostumes. In such circumstances the aid will always be extended with thechambers l5 and 19 lying flat against the body of the user.

The swimming aid can be made from any suitable material in addition toplastics materials and may comprise rubber or may be a moulded article.The moulding can be thickened at its edges for strengthening purposes.

For an experienced swimmer or others, the upper buoyancy chamber can beleft in its tucked in position and the main buoyancy chamber only needbe inflated to make the swimmer buoyant. This feature is applicablewhether buoyancy chambers are connected or not.

There may be provided alternative means such as bellows or the like toinflate the swimming aid rather than to require the user to inflate theaid by blowing into the inflation conduit.

A one-way valve may be provided in the conduit, howsoever, the aid isinflated. The conduit can be made of any suitable material.

It will also be appreciated that the aid can be worn over the bathingapparel, e. g., by water skiers.

It will be seen that the swimming aids above described are neat andunobtrusive when deflated and when inflated give adequate buoyantsupport for the user as well as being inconspicuous when so doing. Theinflated swimming aid will not cause much obstruction to the water whenswimming nor to the body movements of the swimmer.

By having two buoyancy chambers, should one fail the other would provideadequate support. This also provides a psychological advantage for theinexperienced swimmer.

I claim:

1. An inflatable swimming aid comprising a main buoyancy chamber whichin use spans the lower part of the abdomen of a wearer, and is in usecovered by swimming trunks, means secured to the main buoyancy chambernear the upper portion thereof and passing around the trunk of thewearer to hold the swimming aid in position and an additional or upperbuoyancy chamber adapted to be folded down between the main portion andthe wearers anatomy when deflated and to be pulled from the swimmingtrunks and laid against the abdomen when the aid is inflated, the upperbuoyancy chamber being substantially less long than the main buoyancychamber and extending upwardly from the central portion of the mainbuoyancy chamber so that when inflated it lies against the abdomen ofthe wearer.

2. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the twobuoyancy chambers are separate and are held in position by a pouch.

3. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the pouchforms part of a swimming costume.

4. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the upperbuoyancy chamber has projections which are received within recesses inthe lower buoyancy chamber.

5. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the lowerbuoyancy chamber has a straight upper edge.

teriaed in that the pockets of the upper buoyancy chambers are alignedwith the central pockets of the lower buoyancy chamber.

9. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that anaspirating tube is provided for each of the buoyancy chambers and inthat the locations at which the aspirating tubes are joined to thechambers are close to each other.

1. An inflatable swimming aid comprising a main buoyancy chamber whichin use spans the lower part of the abdomen of a wearer, and is in usecovered by swimming trunks, means secured to the main buoyancy chambernear the upper portion thereof and passing around the trunk of thewearer to hoLd the swimming aid in position and an additional or upperbuoyancy chamber adapted to be folded down between the main portion andthe wearer''s anatomy when deflated and to be pulled from the swimmingtrunks and laid against the abdomen when the aid is inflated, the upperbuoyancy chamber being substantially less long than the main buoyancychamber and extending upwardly from the central portion of the mainbuoyancy chamber so that when inflated it lies against the abdomen ofthe wearer.
 2. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 1 characterized inthat the two buoyancy chambers are separate and are held in position bya pouch.
 3. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 2 characterized in thatthe pouch forms part of a swimming costume.
 4. A swimming aid as claimedin claim 1 characterized in that the upper buoyancy chamber hasprojections which are received within recesses in the lower buoyancychamber.
 5. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 1 characterized in thatthe lower buoyancy chamber has a straight upper edge.
 6. A swimming aidas claimed in claim 1 characterized in that both the buoyancy chambersare divided into transversely extending pockets.
 7. A swimming aid asclaimed in claim 6 characterized in that at least one of the pockets ofthe upper buoyancy chamber projects beyond the remainder of the upperbuoyancy chamber and is received within the lower buoyancy chamber.
 8. Aswimming aid as claimed in claim 6 characterized in that the pockets ofthe upper buoyancy chambers are aligned with the central pockets of thelower buoyancy chamber.
 9. A swimming aid as claimed in claim 1characterized in that an aspirating tube is provided for each of thebuoyancy chambers and in that the locations at which the aspiratingtubes are joined to the chambers are close to each other.